Star Characteristics

Stars are gaseous stars that produce their own light and energy (various radiations such as visible light, Ultra violet rays, gamma rays, and electromagnetic energies).

They are agglomerations of matter in the plasma and gaseous state, which is in a continuous process of collapse (caused by gravitational force) and expansion (by strong thermonuclear explosions and other forces) that keep the matter of the stars in a state of equilibrium hydrostatic. The closest star to planet earth is our sun, approximately 149,600,000 away kilometers (8 light minutes), followed by next sentauri which is approximately 4.22 light years from Earth, and continued by its two companions of that triple system, Alpha sentauri and Beta sentauri which are approximately 4.37 light years distant from the earth.

In stars are the various elements of which the universe is composed, hydrogen being the most abundant element in them, followed by helium and other elements, which are constantly subjected to thermonuclear reactions, and it is thanks to these thermonuclear reactions that the fusion of the atomic nuclei of various elements, causing them to transform into other heavier elements and release large amounts of energy into the process. An example is the hydrogen that is transformed into helium and this, in other elements with greater atomic weight and so on. The ways in which they release energy are multiple, such as electromagnetic radiation, neutrinos, stellar wind, and light, (visible and invisible to the human eye). Electromagnetic radiation is a combination of magnetic fields and electric fields, which are oscillating and propagate through space, transporting energy from one place to another. Neutrinos are permionic subatomic particles, with neutral electrical charges.

Through millennia humans have observed the stars, sometimes identifying them with gods, mythological beings or deceased ancestors, naming them individually or in groupings (constellations), being so important in some cultures that even the name of star derives from the name of a deity, the goddess Istar, (Istar = a star), from the Sumerian mythology.

Some of the characteristics that stars have:

Training.- Stars are formed from the condensation of matter in gas and dust clouds; where the atoms, thanks to the gravitational force, begin to collapse against each other, contracting and generating heat, which increases, reaching the generation of thermonuclear reactions (transforming, for example, hydrogen atoms into helium), and the force of gravity increases as the mass of the star, which attracts more matter, which when colliding with each other, generates more heat and a greater force of gravity, further condensing the matter, continuing the cycle, the mass becoming more and more dense and rotating faster and faster, until the moment when matter reaches a hydrostatic equilibrium in which it ceases to contract. The energy is radiated outwards in the form of light, photons, electromagnetic energy, etc.

Classification.- Stars are classified by the spectrum of light they emit; after the discovery that the spectra of stars are arranged in continuous sequences depending on of the intensity of certain absorption lines, corresponding to certain elements of which are composite. Depending on the composition of each star they are designated with certain letters, depending on the elements that predominate in their composition, because when consuming certain elements as fuel over time, (mainly hydrogen and helium), these gradually decrease, thus allowing the identification of the age of the star.

• Class A.- ​​Hydrogen predominates in its spectra.
• Class B.- Helium lines reach maximum intensity The intensity of hydrogen lines increases constantly in all subdivisions.
• Class F.- Calcium H and K lines stand out.
• Class G.- Includes stars with strong calcium H and K lines and less strong hydrogen lines. Our sun belongs to this group.
• Class O.- Lines of helium, oxygen and nitrogen, in addition to those of hydrogen.
• Class M.- Spectra dominated by bands that indicate the presence of metallic oxides, especially those of titanium oxide.
• Class K.- Stars that have strong calcium lines and others that indicate the presence of other metals.

Another way to classify them is by the color they present:

• Yellow color, (like the Sun).
• Orange.
• Color blue.
• White-blue colorway.
• White color.
• White-yellow color.
• Red color.

As well as the size of its dough.

There are billions. According to calculations by astronomers, only in the Milky Way there are between 200 and 300 billion stars, distributed along the spiral that forms our galaxy, being as a whole only a fraction of the stars that exist in the different known galaxies, which amount to almost incalculable, then estimating an approximate number of forty billion billion, 40,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, (one four plus twenty-two zeros), basing that estimate on the valuation of 200 billion galaxies that are believed to exist in our universe, a calculation that is made by measuring the approximate mass that exists within a galaxy, and from there an estimate of the mass of other galaxies is calculated, making estimates of the number of stars in said galaxies.

They have their own light. Unlike other bodies found in space, such as planets, asteroids, comets, and clouds of gas and dust that do not have light own, the stars do radiate luminosity, being precisely that luminosity, the one that sometimes is reflected by the other bodies space. Some stars of great mass and size reach a point during their life that due to the various thermonuclear reactions inside them, they end up consuming their fuel, expanding rapidly, producing a burst of matter, energy and light, which can even be seen with the naked eye in very distant places, illuminating even with a luminosity greater than that of other stars, which are relatively closer to a planet, as happened in the year 1006, with a supernova that was observed in various places on the planet and recorded by Chinese and Arab astronomers, illuminating the night in a way similar to the reflection of sunlight on Moon.

They have a very large gravitational force. Stars have very large masses as they have large amounts of matter, which is compressed by gravitational force; This force of gravity usually attracts different bodies towards itself, trapping large celestial bodies (planets) within their mass or in orbits close to them, as well as asteroids, comets and clouds of gas and dust, sometimes forming solar systems, where the various bodies revolve around the star or the stars that make it up, as these are the celestial bodies with the greatest mass and gravitational force, and there are stars that revolve around other stars of greater mass. size.

They radiate energy. The different classes of stars, regardless of their size or color, radiate various types of energy; Among the energy that they diffuse into space is heat energy, and various radiations such as light (such as waves visible and invisible to the human eye) and various radiations that make up the electromagnetic spectrum, infrared rays, visible light (including the full range of wavelengths that can be seen), rays Ultra Violets, X-rays, Gamma Rays, and cosmic rays, as well as neutrinos, which are ejected in all directions into space, spreading energy to the confines of the universe. In this regard, it should be noted that some stars accumulate such an amount of matter that their gravity increases dramatically, attracting more and more matter, reaching the point where the star collapses into itself, then becoming a black hole, so called because they attract all matter to towards itself, to the extent that its gravity does not allow light to escape, and in the same way light or anything that falls in its gravitational field, remains caught.

With regard to stars that collapse and become black holes, they have been found to rotate faster than other stars engulfing matter in spiral or eddy shape, rotating at extremely fast speeds, and it is believed that such a swirling motion could reach speeds close to that of the light. And as matter enters the black hole and rotates at such high speeds, it generates the expulsion of matter (gas, and various particles,) as well as energy, expelling it to the ends of the universe with a very great momentum and speed, expelling jets of matter and energy at almost the speed of light. This hypothesis is a consequence of the observations made by physicists and astronomers in the cluster of galaxies called MS 0735.6 + 7421, where it is believed there is a large black hole whose mass is calculated to be one billion times that of our own. star the sun.

They transform the elements they contain. Thermonuclear reactions cause the fusion of other elements, transforming them into heavier elements. Hydrogen is transformed into helium, and helium into other heavier elements. In this regard, it has been observed that it is in the larger stars (mass) that the heaviest elements are created.

They generate magnetic fields. Stars have magnetic fields, which rise for several kilometers from their surfaces, creating so-called crowns. solar cells, which collide, releasing ionized particles at very high temperatures, which are fired into space at high temperatures. speeds. These sets of particles are called by the name of solar wind; This solar wind expands through space, sometimes colliding with celestial bodies such as planets and asteroids, is the case of the magnetic field of our star the sun, which generates solar wind that reaches our planet, which could kill life, if not because the planet earth has a magnetic field, which protects it, deflecting the different radiation carried by the wind solar. In this regard, a phenomenon that occurs when there are solar explosions stands out, which increases the solar wind, on earth a spectacular phenomenon is observed which are the so-called northern lights and polar.